DeepX-Ray: A Comparative Study of Deep Learning-Based Classification and Segmentation Techniques for Automated Detection and Diagnosis of COVID-19 from Chest X-ray Images

Abstract

The relentless spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, causing COVID-19, has underscored the urgent need for efficient early detection and diagnosis methods to mitigate its impact. While traditional techniques like RT-PCR are valuable, they often suffer from time-consuming processes. In this study, DeepX-Ray is presented, a comprehensive investigation into deep learning-based classification and segmentation approaches for the automated detection of COVID-19 from chest X-ray images. Specifically, the authors focus on constructing a custom convolutional neural network (CNN) model to distinguish between COVID-19 and standard X-ray images and benchmark its performance against established models. For segmentation tasks, the effectiveness of various backbone architectures, including ResNet34, ResNet101, DenseNet201, and ResNet50 within the UNet model framework, is explored, with ResNet50 exhibiting superior performance. Furthermore, a novel dataset comprising 7657 images sourced from three publicly available authentic datasets is introduced, and the labelMe tool is employed by the authors to generate ground truth mask datasets for 4137 images to facilitate segmentation of infected lung areas. The authors' custom CNN model achieves an outstanding classification accuracy of 100%, while the segmentation approach attains a mean Intersection over Union (IoU) score of 96.19%. These results underscore the efficacy of the proposed model in enabling early automatic detection and diagnosis of COVID-19, particularly in resource-constrained and remote settings where establishing traditional laboratories may be impractical. This research significantly advances medical imaging techniques for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.